Christ
is the Mystery no. 12
“Knowledge
of the son of God”
July 15, 2012
Brian
Kocourek
This morning we have finally arrived at the text for
this sermon of brother Branham’s which he calls Christ is the Mystery of God Revealed.
In his text brother Branham reads from Colossians chapter one, so if we would
open our Bibles to Chapter One of the Book of Colossians.
Now, brother Branham says in paragraph 51 “Now, I want
to read some out of the Scriptures. And I trust now, that you've got your
pencils and papers and everything ready. And, Brother Neville, you're setting
still; I'm just going to take my coat off. Excuse me for taking off my coat,
but this is awfully warm up here.
52
Now, I want you to turn to the Book of Colossians, the 1st chapter of Colossians. And then, while we read
this, beginning with... I want you, when
you go home, to read the entire chapter of these Colossians. But I want you
to read this morning with me from the 15th verse, 29th inclusive. And now, just be as patient as you can, for I
feel that in this here, if God will help me, will reveal and bring into your mind all these other things that I have
talked on all through the days of the Tabernacle: why I have said what I've
said, and why I have done what I have done. This is why.
Now, notice he is cautioning us to be very careful and
patient in how we read the Scripture. Too many people just brush over God’s
Word and that is how they miss what God has for them. They do not read God’s
Word patiently, slowly and with purpose.
I remember after 50 – 60 hours of preaching and
teaching in Kinshasa Congo in 2004 I had several brothers come up to me after
the meetings we over, and they said, “well,
one thing for sure we have learned this week, and that is how to read our
Bibles.”
You see too many people make the mistake of reading
this love letter like they would read a book. But my wife, bless her heart, she
still has the love letters I wrote to her when we were courting, and when you
write a love letter, or read it, and if you know it is to you, or about you,
you read it with more purpose and patience to glean everything you can get out
of that letter.
As brother Branham said when he would read the letters
from his wife while he was oversea’s for any length of time, he said in her
letters to me, I could read between the lines. And when you begin to patiently
read God’s thoughts that he had penned down by the scribes over the ages, when
you read His thoughts patiently, and carefully, you begin to see things that
99% of all people miss, and seems to just go right on past them.
So we are going to begin to read from Colossians
chapter 1 very carefully this morning, as brother Branham suggested to us to
do.
Now, from the 15th verse... Who
is the image of the invisible God, (Now listen to these words, He’s speaking about Jesus
here, and he calls him the image of the invisible God. Now that tells us that
there are two involved here, one “Who is the invisible God” and the other “Who
is the very image of that invisible God”.)
Now, we know an image is not the original. An the
definition of an image is: 1. A reproduction
of the form of a person or an object, especially a sculptured likeness.
So we can see here that the Scripture is speaking of
Two persons, one Who is the invisible God and the other Who bears the image or
is a reproduction of the form of the invisible God.
Therefore by definition Paul is telling us that God is
the unseen Life and Jesus Christ is the image or the visible expression of that
unseen Life.
In the Book of Hebrews Paul tells us the same thing.
Hebrews
1:1 God,
The invisible One, who at sundry times
and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers through the prophets, (The invisible
one using the bodies of His visible prophets to speak through) 2 Hath in these last
days spoken unto us in his Son, whom he hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; So we see here the Great Invisible God entered into
the Body of His Son to speak through and manifest Himself to the world, that
the world might know the Invisible One. 3 Who (the son of God, the visible
one) being the
brightness (being the illumination) of His (God
the invisible one, being the illumination of His) glory,(His Doxa, His values, His
opinions, His judgments) and the express image
of his person, (not just image of God’s person but the expressed
Image of the invisible One. In other words, “The Image” that has been set forth, “The Image”
that completely manifested or that completely communicated the essence of the
invisible one. And when it
speaks of complete manifestation or complete communication, it speaks of fullness
and nothing short of fullness.) and upholding all
things (and Paul said in other verses, that we are “all things”
in Christ. So he upholds us,) by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of
the Majesty on high; (so
it wasn’t about Him, it was about us. He didn’t come into this world to
manifest the invisible One for Himself, He came into this world to express, to
manifest, to communicate the invisible one for us.) 4 Being made so much
better than the angels, as he hath by
inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. 5 For
unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
So we are looking at this visible one who came into
this world not for himself, but for us. He expressed the invisible one not for
self, but for us.
Oh, if we could only see that eternal Life is living
for others. Remember what I read to you from the Transliteration called the
Message a few weeks ago from Romans 8. Let me read it again for you so that you
might see what Paul is speaking of here in the book of Colossians and why Brother Branham
read this Scripture for his opening text to this masterpiece of a sermon.
Romans
8: 5-8 Those who think they can do
it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never
get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God's action in them
find that God's Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self
in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open,
into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on
God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more
about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And
God isn't pleased at being ignored. 9-11But if God himself has taken up
residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of
him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present
God, the Spirit of Christ, won't know what we're talking about. But for you who
welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the
limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God's terms. It stands to
reason, doesn't it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the
dead moves into your life, he'll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus,
bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does,
as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his
Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ's! 12-14So
don't you see that we don't owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent.
There's nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a
decent burial and get on with your new life. God's Spirit beckons. There are
things to do and places to go! 15-17This resurrection life you received
from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant,
greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" God's Spirit
touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we
know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what's
coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ
goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we're certainly
going to go through the good times with him!
Therefore in reading this from the King James
version we will do so with the exception that when you read the word flesh,
insert into your thinking the word self. Because when you read the word flesh
you automatically think this speaks of others, and not yourself. But when you
substitute the word self for flesh you can mnot hide behind words, you must
face up to them.
Romans 8:5 For
they that are after self do mind the things of self; but they that are after
the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be
carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually
minded is life and peace.7 Because
the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is
not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So
then they that are self cenntered cannot
please God.9 But ye are not self centered, but in
the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have
not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.10 And
if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.11 But
if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that
raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his
Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12 Therefore,
brethren, we are debtors, not to self, to live after self, 13 For
if ye live after self, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do put under
submission the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For
as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;
but ye have received the Spirit of
adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The
Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and
joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him,
that we may be also glorified together. 18 For I
reckon that the sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory which
shall be revealed in us.
Therefore in getting back to Colossians, 1 and reading from
paragraph 15: Who is the image
of the invisible God, Now notice His Life, it was not about
Himself, His Life was about expressing His Father, the firstborn of every creature:
(Not about Him, but firstborn means the first along with others) For by him were
all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in the earth, visible...
invisible, whether they be thrones,... dominions,... principalities,... powers:
all things were created by him, and for
him: And he is before all
things, and by him “all things” (that’s
you and I) consist. And he
is the head of the body (not alone, but the head of the body
suggesting His role as a leader of the body, so he was made for the body), the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; (The first born from the
dead, therefore the first to taste death for the other born ones.) that in all things
he might have preeminence. (Now, these words here doesn’t mean that
he might be the big shot. The word pre-eminence means the focus. He was the
firstborn of creation that others might follow his footsteps. He was the
firstborn from among the dead so others will know how to die and rise again.
YOU see, he was the trail blazer, the one who had to cut the path through life
and death so that others might follow in his footsteps. Now, listen, the hardest
job is to be first, because you are the one who has to do the trailblazing, the
hacking down a path, for others simply to follow. His whole being was about
living for others.)
For
it pleased the Father that in him should
be all fullness dwell;--should all
fullness dwell;... (Let me put a little emphasis on that
again--this 19th verse.)For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell;
Now, contrary to some who teach that the fullness of
the Godhead is in the Bride, the Scripture teaches us that it pleased God that
in His Son He might dwell in His fullness.
Now, let’s read on about our eldest brother Jesus. “And, having made
peace through the blood of his cross, (Now, who was that peace made
for? It certainly was not made for Him? He is the prince of Peace. He didn’t
need to make peace with God, so we are told here that the cross that he bore
made peace for you and me. So again we see his whole purpose of being was to do
for others.)
Let’s continue, “by him to reconcile “all things” (again it is us,
the all things that this scripture is pointing to.) unto himself, by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in
heaven...
Now, notice again, he is talking about something that
Jesus did for you and me. By Him, he reconciled us unto Himself. Now, He needed
no reconciliation with the Father but you and I did. And by what he did,
becoming the head of our body, he brought us into reconciliation with the
Father through the cross which he bore alone on
Now, brother Branham says here, (Watch where that reconciliation went.) And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your own mind by your own wicked
works, you now has he reconciled. So
it was not your own mind, nor your own works that reconciled you to God. Your
own mind and your own works were here called wicked. But this is what He did
for you. He did not do this for himself. His mind and his works pleased the
Father, not like your works and your mind which were wicked. In the body of his
flesh, in the body of His own self, through death, (which means which
he died to his own self in order) to present you holy...
unblameable... unreproveable
in his sight:
Now, look, He died to self to present you as holy, to
present you as unblameable, to present you as unreproveable in his sight. Now,
in your sight, you are not blameless, and In your sight you are not holy, and
in your sight you are no unreproveable,. But what He did for you makes you
holy, makes you unblameable, makes you unreproveable. So he didn’t do it for
himself, he did it for you.
Now, let’s continue with Colossians 1. “If ye continue in
the faith grounded and settled, and not be moved away from the hope of the
gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is
under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, (Now,
notice what Paul is saying here. I Paul was made a minister for you. Now a
minister is someone who ministers to others. A minister is not a big shot, but
a servant. Jesus example to the 12 was that if they wished to lead, they must
become the servant of all, because Jesus lead by serving others.)
John 13:12 So
after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down
again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? 13 Ye call me Master
and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have
washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that ye
should do as I have done to you. 16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. 17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
So there is a joy and a blessing in the doing thereof.
But why then is it just the opposite among the preachers and laity. It seems
the people serve the preachers instead of visa a versa as Christ laid down the
example and pattern for us to follow. Well the answer is self. If we are living
for self it will manifest, but if we are living for others that will manifest
as well. And to live for others is eternal life, whereas to live for self all
you have to look forward to is death.
Now, in getting back to Colossians 1; “and fill up that which is bound--behind of the
afflictions of Christ in... flesh for
his body's sake, which is the church:
Again we see that the afflictions of Christ was not
for Himself, but for His body, which is His church. In others His afflictions
were for others.
In the
Book of Isaiah 53:5 we are given prophecies about Christ… But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon
him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; (you see self there again? To our own way, that is
self all the way…) and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he
opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep
before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8 He
was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation?
for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Look, this is becoming very clear here that his life
wasn’t lived for him, it was lived for you and me. His sacrifice was not for
him, it was for you and me. Then how can we sit back and think of self, when
our example seed, when our pattern lived for others. 9 And
he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any
deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet
it pleased the LORD to bruise him;(Look, It pleased God to bruise Him not for what he
did, but for what you and I did.) he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his
days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11 He
shall see of the travail of his soul,
and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Again and again we see that his grief, his suffering
was not for what he did. He was pure, and holy and true and just, and in him
there was no guile, not deceit. Yet the
scripture says, by his knowledge shall my righteous servant
justify many; for he shall bear
their iniquities.
By his knowledge, he shall justify many. And that
knowledge is what the five-fold ministry is to bring the people to in order
that we be no more children.
Ephesians
4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some,
prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;12 For
the perfecting of the saints, (that means for the
maturing of the saints and notice what else for.) for the work
of the ministry, for the edifying (of
the building up) of
the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, (The
revelation of Jesus Christ) and of the knowledge
of the Son of God, (not knowledge about the son of God, but His
knowledge, as Paul said in Colossians 1: by his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many)
So it is the work of the five fold to get across to
the people this knowledge of the righteous servant, the son of God, that everything
about him was for you and me. His life, His love, His role in the family.
Nothing about him was for himself, but everything about him was for you and me.
And when that knowledge I assimilated
into the Children of God they become no more children.
But become “unto a perfect man, unto the measure (the metron, the portion) of the stature (or character) of the fullfilling
of Christ: 14 That
we henceforth be no more children, tossed to
and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;15 But speaking
the truth in love, we may grow up into
him (May grow up into Who? Into Him, in His image, be conformed
into the image of the first born son)
Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
So Paul continues in Ephesians 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, we may grow up into him (That we may grow up into and be
conformed into the image of the first born son) in “all things”, which is the head, even Christ:
Notice that we might
grow up into him in all things, and remember we are the all things in Christ.
So this tells us that we are to grow up to be just like Jesus Christ the eldest
son, when it comes to dealing with “all things” which is the body of Christ. And what
does that mean? It means we no longer live for self like a young baby lives for
self. But as grown ones, we are no more children, we have become identified as
sons.
You see most people do
not understand what I have been teaching concerning the spirit of adoption. The
purpose of the spirit of adoption is to take us from being children to sons,
and once we have grown up and become sons, we are now walking and talking in
the image of the first born son.
In every family when
you have little children you have to feed them, and cloth them, and shelter
them, and tend to their affections, and their pains and their general welfare.
But when they grown out of childhood and become more mature, they are now able
to take on a role in the family and tend to things to help the family, and to
assist in the families welfare. Every household chore is in effect learning to
do for others. It is this child training that the comforter gives back the
report to the heavenly father about his son or daughter. Because there are
three basic steps we go through before we become joint heirs.
The first is the stage
as children, which we are not a child of God until we are born into the family
by the new birth. Then we begin on milk, and as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:9
For we know in
part, and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that
which is perfect (which is mature or fully grown) is come, then that
which is in part shall be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spake
as a child, and I understood as a child, because I thought as a child: but when
I became a man, I put away childish things and childish thinking. 12 For
now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part;
but then shall I know even as also I am known.
So those who think
like a child will act like a child, and the Apostle Paul said in Hebrews 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need
that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God;
and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 13 For
every one that uses milk is unskillful in the
word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14 But strong meat belongs to
them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses
exercised to discern both good and evil.
Therefore it is this knowledge of the son
of God, his knowledge on how to live for others is what changes a person from a
baby to an adult. Just look at a child, they are the most selfish people on
earth. Everything in their life revolves around them. And when you see this
attitude among people that is totally into “self”, you are dealing with
children, and not sons who have received the spirit of adoption.
Now, I will have to
get into this a bit more on Wednesday night because right now, I am getting away from my text, so
I must get back on track. But Wednesday night I will show you how there are
three stages to our Son-ship. First we are children, then we become under
tutors and governors until the time appointed of the Father. That is where we
are now. You can’t tutor a young child, all you can do for them is nourish, and
provide for their needs. But when their minds develop and they begin to see the
bigger picture, we then can begin to train them to be in the image of the
Father, and that is what we train them for, until one day all their thoughts
are as thought coming forth from the Father himself, and they are ready for
inheritance or to become heirs in which they not only receive a certain portion
of the estate, but they are also ready to take on the responsibility of that
estate.
You see, our father is
a King and Priest, and we have been called to become Kings and Priests, that is
the estate, and that is what we are hear to and to be a King Is not just to
have the wealth of the kingdom, but it also means having the responsibility of
the welfare of that Kingdom as well.
Anyway, in getting
back to Ephesians
4: we
will pick up at verse 16 where Paul said we
have all grown up and are no more children, and so then he says, “From whom the whole
body fitly joins together and compacts by that which every joint
supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part,
maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. In
other words, we come to the place where all our energies are directed towards
the rest of the body, to the place of making increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in
love.
Notice we see the same
ting in Isaiah 53: 12 Therefore (after
living a life of self sacrificial in nature, God says) will I divide him a
portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; (that
speaks of the inheritance. And we receive inheritance after the testing has
been completed and we have been found to be about our fathers business.) will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil
with the strong; because he hath poured
out his soul unto death: and he was
numbered with the transgressors; and he
bare the sin of many, and made
intercession for the transgressors.
So after a life of living for others, healing the
sick, casting out demons, and constantly doing the will of His father, even
unto death, he is given his portion of the Fathers kingdom.
And notice back in Colossians 1 after the Apostle Paul
has spoken of the self-less Son of God, he then says, Whereof I am made a minister, ( I am made a servant) according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you,(notice not for my benefit but for yours) to fulfill the Word
of God; Even the mystery which has been
hidden from age and from generation, but now is made manifest to his saints:...and
then brother Branham says, (And I want to read that verse again.)... Even the mystery
which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to
his saints: To whom God would make known
what is the riches of the glory (of
the Doxa, of the values and opinions and judgments of God) To whom God would make known what is the riches
of the opinions and values of this
mystery among the Gentiles; which is “Christ
in you, the hope of glory”: Whom
we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we might present every man perfect in
Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labor, striving according to the working, which worketh in me mightily.
Oh, I hope you see what the Apostle Paul and now
brother Branham is driving home. He is talking about Christ, the anointing for
service being in you, which is your hope or earnest expectation of coming into
the full Doxa, the full Glory or having the values, opinions, and judgments of
God.
Now, brother Branham goes
on to say in paragraph 53
Now, for a text, I want to take out of there this for a text, basing it upon
the entire Bible, but I want to title this "Christ is the Mystery of God Revealed," “Christ” being the mystery of
God revealed. Now, I took it in order as a Sunday school lesson so we could
all read together and have this fellowship together.
Now, I think we
will leave off here until Wednesday night when we pick up where we left off and
we will go more into the three stages of Son-ship, or from a child of God to a
son of God to a joint-heir with Christ, because we will need this understanding
for a background before we proceed further into this wonderful Message from Br.
Branham called Christ is The Mystery of God Revealed. You see, that is why I
have been preaching on the spirit of Adoption for the past 7 years. I am trying
to get us from being children to becoming sons, so we can go on to becoming
joint heirs with Christ.
Because brother Branham said if you are not the right
kind of a son, there will be no inheritance for you. And I am afraid there are
a lot of people who have been storing up treasure on earth, and will be missing
much treasure where moth doth not eat, nor rust can canker. It is not enough to
know about Christ you must know Him. You must enter into the fellowship of His
suffering. Let me say this one more time to make it stick before we go to
prayer. “It is not enough to Know Christ you must not only put on Christ but you
must become Christ.”
Let us bow our heads in prayers.